Apocalyptic
by OrtumnAllbones
Summary: Centuries after the great quake, Sora knows there is nothing left beyond his island home. But when he and his friends are seperated he learn's that's not completely true. There is a terrifying virus out there, and, according to a King's letter and a mysterious key, he is the only survivor capable of ending it. A post-apocalyse Sci-Fi re-telling of Kingdom Hearts. REVIEWS WANTED!


"Who are you?"

He found her sprawled on the beach, a girl with the name of the sea and not one memory.

"Where did you come from?"

Her eyes were blue when she opened them, as blue as the sea that had birthed her onto white sands. She was all red hair and sea salt. The fine sand stuck to the ornate heart burnt onto her breastbone.

That was the first day, a blur of strangers and sea, a new beginning compared to what shadows may have been before.

"I'm Sora! That's Riku. I'll go get my dad; he always knows what to do!" The little boy with brown spiky hair left her side to run, leaving footprints in the sand.

Kairi brought confusion and question to the islanders who claimed there was nothing left beyond the reef, the horizon was empty; they were all that had survived.

Weren't they?

Everything else was dead.

'_Except Kairi.'_ Sora thought, opening his eyes, his gloved hand shielding them from the burning sun. "What a weird dream." He yawned, looking at the sea. Time had passed, they had grown, Kairi was not laid half-dead by the sea. He laid back down with another yawn.

"HEY!" Kairi stood above him.

He jerked upright, spraying sand from his back.

"I saw you!"

"Gimme a break Kairi!" He saw her, the sun a halo of light around her.

"Sora, you lazy bum. I knew I'd find you snoozing out here, slacking off."

"I wasn't!" He insisted, guilty eyes wide. "OW!" She punished his lies with the tap of her knuckles on his skull.

"Come look at the raft," she walked away. "We need to plan supplies."

He followed her footsteps, across the white sands and through the shack to the other side of the beach.

Three-hundred-and-forty-eight days, a decade had passed quickly since he had found her washed up on the beach. They were teenagers now, fourteen. It only seemed fitting that they would sail the raft into the great unknown in two days – the anniversary of her finding.

"WOW!" He marvelled when he saw it. A great slab of driftwood roped together, the log a tall mast sticking out of its centre as Riku, a year older than they were, ethereal in the sun as his silver hair shone, attached the old sail. "It's really taking shape!"

"I did most of it though," Riku jumped down from the mast, "while you were both off slacking, making out and feeding each other paopu fruit or something."

"What? Riku!" Sora reddened up to his ears while Kairi giggled.

"If two people share a paopu fruit, their destinies become intertwined. They'll remain a part of each other's lives, no matter what. C'mon, I know you wanna try it." He teased, embarrassing them both. Sora grit his teeth while Kairi griggled uncontrollably. "I'm just kidding anyway. I'm tired, meet you there!" He ran across the sands.

"Where?" Sora called.

"The usual place silly," Kairi held her hands behind her back, "the paopu tree!" She hurried after Riku.

"But the raft!" Sora chased after them.

"We'll finish it tomorrow!" She called.

The blue sky was fading into red as the sun fell into the sea. The view was perfect from the paopu tree, elevated on its own tiny island, a bridge connecting it to land through the tall shack built into a hollowed rock.

It was a lovers spot. But Sora found that pretty disgusting, friends were better than kissing.

Riku leant against the paopu tree, arms crossed across his yellow-clad chest. "They say the world ended in an hour, cracked by quakes like a giant egg so great that no one could survive!"

"We've all heard the story." Sora climbed onto the horizontalslope of the paopu tree, it had the leaves of a palm tree and large yellow star-shaped fruit.

"Sora let him tell it!" Kairi begged. "Go on Riku."

"Well, somehow, some refugees did survive, right? They gathered on _this_ island and survived. It was destiny, which is why they called this place the Destiny Islands. The refugees became an island of villagers rebuilding their lives knowing there's nothing left out there, nothing beyond the reef, that's why the horizon is empty. And that's good because the world was a dangerous place before. Full of virus and violence that must have caused that disaster. Things turned out for the best..." He paused. "I have to know the truth. If we're all that's left, then where did Kairi come from?" He lowered his head and shook it, long white silver strands trembled in the breeze. "I have to know."

"So suppose you find another world," Kairi giggled, "what would you do there?"

"Well… I haven't really thought about it. It's just… I've always wondered why we're here on this island. If this world is so safe, why must we learn how to fight and what will we be fighting? Of all the land that was out there, why did our greatest grandparents survive if others didn't? And suppose there still are other worlds … Then ours is just a little piece of something much greater! So we could've just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?"

Sora laid on the slope of the tree, his hands cradled his spiky head. "I don't know."

"Exactly." He let his arms fall to his sides. "That's why we need to go out there and find out. Just sitting here won't change a thing. It's the same old stuff. So let's go."

Kairi leant forth. "You've been thinking a lot lately, haven't you?"

"Thanks to you. If you hadn't come here, I probably wouldn't have thought of any of this. Kairi, thanks."

She giggled nervously. "You're welcome. But it's really not as if I had a choice. Oh! I'm making something right now!" She changed the subject, grasping something in her hand. "It's a necklace of thalassa shells. Long ago, sailors would wear them and pray for a safe trip, and that no matter where they'd end up, they'd come back one day." She revealed the string of unique shells, waiting to be threaded into place.

"Let's go find that other world!" Sora leapt to his feet on the paopu tree. "The three of us! Together always!"

"Sora,"

He nearly fell when Riku plucked the star shaped paopu fruit and threw it into his hands. "Shouldn't you try it before we leave? Or do you want me to test it first?"

Sora turned as red as his playsuit.

"And on that note I'll be off." Kairi walked across the bridge, one arm habitually held behind her back.

"Race you to the boat Sora!" Riku took off.

"Come back here!" Sora chased after him, across the bridge, down the steps in the shack and to the docks, tossing the fruit aside.

"Hey Sora," Riku clambered into his boat, gripping the paddle he took off, Sora on his tail, Kairi sailing at her own pace, "our raft still needs a name. How about… Highwind? What would you call it?"

"Me?" His pace slowed as he thought. "Well… hm… Excalibur!"

Riku's expressive eyes disapproved. He furrowed his brow and smiled mischievously. "The usual?"

"Let's do it! If I win… I'm Captain!" He told Riku. "And if you win…"

"I get to share the paopu with Kairi."

His eyes widened. "Huh?"

"Deal?" Riku's grip tightened on his oar. "The winner gets to share a paopu with Kairi."

"What –! Wait a minute! You're still on about that?"

"You guys at it again?" Kairi caught up to them. "All right, I'll judge. The first one to shore wins."

Her hand left her oar to reach the sky, two fingers took the shape of a gun ready to fire. "Okay, on my count! Three! Two! One! BANG!"

In a spray of salt water their oars splashed, each one fighting to reach the fishing shore in the distance where a small village was built around a dormant volcano.

Sora grit his teeth as he struggled to catch up.

Riku sailed through the waters with such speed and precision, he was well built, not nearly as wiry as Sora. Why he wanted to leave the safety of the reef was baffling, he would make an excellent fisherman when he came of age the following year.

Riku leapt out of his boat as they left the reef and the water became shallow. He trod through it, pulling his boat along until he abandoned it on the shore, victorious.

Sora followed him; abandoning his boat he lowered his head and punched the air. "Man, no fair!"

"Lighten up," He looked to Kairi as she moored her boat and announced him winner, "I was kidding."

"Yeah well…" Sora pouted, "I'll beat you next time!"

"Sure you will." Riku snickered, walking to the village.

"Hey!" Sora ran after him.

"See you tomorrow!" He ran ahead, headed for his house, the one with the balcony overlooking the ocean. Blue… it was always big and blue… never changing. Riku snarled as he thought. "It's… infuriating!"


End file.
